Shell to Spend $160 Million to Help End Pollution Case

Settlement With DOJ, EPA Calls for Work to Pare Harmful Releases at Houston Area Plant

By

Kristin Jones And

Alison Sider

July 10, 2013 6:00 p.m. ET

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC has agreed to pay a fine and spend as much as $160 million on projects to resolve allegations that its refinery and chemical plant near Houston emitted harmful amounts of benzene and other air pollutants, the Justice Department said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency argued in a complaint that Shell improperly operated steam-operated flaring devices at its Deer Park, Texas, plant, causing...